(I attended the Tea Party rally at the Wisconsin State Capitol last year on April 15th, and I did not see a scrap of litter left behind. Participants not only took care to leave no trash of their own, they looked around and made sure no one else did.)

UPDATE: Four days into the protests, we observed that the protesters have done a great job of keeping litter off the Capitol grounds. More here.

They created jobs for other public employees to come and clean up the mess.

I think this is part of President Wonderful's recovery plan. If we can get protesters to trash every state capitol and local courthouse, we'll have unemployment down to 8% in no time. And thanks to that "multiplier" effect that you get when you spend public money, it will turn around the entire economy.

I'm feeling particularly patriotic -- I think I'll go smear human feces all over the front door of the local police station.

Hilarious. These slobs have absolutely no respect for anything. I hope they keep protesting until they freeze their tiny little balls off. Let people see what kind of shitbags are pulling in the sweet public employee Union deals. I'd call them worms, but worms are sometimes actually useful.

Go to Redstate.com and see the video put out by the Wisconsin GOP, interspersing the hate speech and signs at the Madison union rally with the solemn pronouncments of pelosi et.al. decrying political hate speech. A powerful political punch to the shameless lefties.

Funny, I see posters (the ones attached to those banned sticks could have been removed) and flyers amongst the trash left by those lazy slobs....sorry, I meant valiant, righteous protesters who are so much more civilized than those icky teabaggers (who should just shut up, BTW).

It's too true that these public sector employees and their union organizers don't think that these "optics" of discarded refuse matter to anyone. But, I think, they do resonate on a more basic human level that these organizers can't deign to understand.

It's as if they are literally expressing through their actions: "We are the Teachers Union and somebody else needs to take responsibility - not us. We can't be bothered."

(Btw, we were looking back at some old blog posts yesterday and discovered that it was one of your comments at the end of 2008 that instigated the private email conversation between AA and me the led to meeting in person. So thanks again for that comment!)

Great Drudge-aposition. The "Days of Rage" heading re: Madison, WI and the picture of Americans being hung in effigy by Islamists. The Teachers Unions are finding themselves in very interesting meta-company.

I don't know. . .this thread's just not the same without Garage desperately whining about the crook governor of Florida and R-V snippily insisting we don't understand the necessity of unions because his great-grandpappy was forced to work 37 hours in t'mill and eat a lump of dried poison for breakfast.

From the unanimous sentiments expressed in the comments above, I deduce that the teachers unions of the Peoples republic of Madison, Wisc., have done great damage to the public school teachers' cause.

However, I also remember the bad, old days, and the teachers do need protection against the the verkramptes of the local school boards. Things have gotten out of hand when NEA and the AFT affiliate with the thugs of SEIU and threaten the State Government, but I think this may be more due to poor leadership and misguided loyalty to "liberal" causes, than evil intent. Teachers are generally good people, which is why they become teachers in the first place, but they obviously are as liable to herd, or mob, action as anyone else when gathered in a group.

They committed a fraud on the taxpayers and the students with the sickout. They taught the students it's ok to lie if it helps you achieve a goal. And now they've shirked their responsibility to clean up their own filth.

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM MY UNIONIZED KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

Hog as much as you can for yourself.Fair play is for suckers.Don't hit people if anyone is looking.Pocket things for yourself, wherever you found them.Make other people clean up your own mess.Take things that aren't yours.Never say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.Wash your hands after you make Hitler signs.Flush.Lavish pensions and benefits are good for you.Live a balanced life - complain some and whine some and bitch and moan and protest and threaten and cajole and hyperbolize every day some.Take a nap every afternoon during video time.If you go out in the world, watch out for taxpayers, hold hands and stick together.Be aware of your desires. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really cares, but we are all like that.Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all need handouts. So do we.And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - DICK.

Protesters tend to leave their messages signs behind as a reminder. I don't think the tea parties could come up with the numbers that this protest has drawn. Tea parties are cleaner simply by their smaller turn out.

Protesters tend to leave their messages signs behind as a reminder. I don't think the tea parties could come up with the numbers that this protest has drawn. Tea parties are cleaner simply by their smaller turn out.

Hysterical. What Mobius strip do you get your logic from? Is your favorite snack the pretzel? Are you a yoga practitioner?

This went on for the whole time I was shopping. I eventually left with my items so I don't know how it ended. I commend the dad for his patience, if nothing else. (With my mother it would have been over immediately with one look from her. With my dad it would have taken a little longer, but it would have ended with the kid being dragged from the store with nothing.)

It does kinda sum up the mindset of the entitlement class. "I don't care if you don't have the money... I WANT, I WANT!!!"

Every time my nephews do this I give some variant on a "just because you want something doesn't mean it's going to happen" speech. They do this quite a lot but eventually they will figure out it doesn't work.

I admit that the link was posted in haste and has now been removed. The image was what was important. I highly doubt that there has not been one tea party protest that didn't leave heaps of trash behind. All public events should be wiser to pick up their trash. I just don't think that trash left behind diminishes the message of the demonstration. The comments I read here highlight the pack "holier than thou" attitude of your average tea party member.

I admit that the link was posted in haste and has now been removed. The image was what was important. I highly doubt that there has not been one tea party protest that didn't leave heaps of trash behind. All public events should be wiser to pick up their trash. I just don't think that trash left behind diminishes the message of the demonstration. The comments I read here highlight the pack "holier than thou" attitude of your average tea party member. Then you’ll be able to post those pictures taken by the Kossacs, Media Matter, Moveon.org, Organizing for America, right to prove your point? Otherwise I’m afraid you really are lacking the evidence to back your claim.

Just thought I'd mention that the protest has not ended yet. There is a chance that the pile of signs will be picked up. Don't point the finger until the event is over..

I’m sure the Capitol Physical Plant Department left those signs from YESTERDAY, on the off chance they’ll be collected today…Dood/doodette just admit you’re wrong….Let’s see the logic, “I dropped the sign, but I promise I’ll come back for it.”

MadMan: "..you are not allowed to take sticks into the Capitol. (Weird law)"

Meade: "Sticks and pickets can quickly become weaponized."

Me: Hey, in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave (aka Washington State), we can indeed take our loaded handguns everywhere on state government property and in to buildings, excepting only court facilities. Here's a real-life example that occurred early last year that provoked much hilarity against the hoplophobe activist in question. (I wasn't at the hearing, but I know several of the individuals who were, including Jim Beal who was cited in the Examiner article.)

wv: nopsur - a polite denial. "Nopsur, there's absolutely nothing illegal about these people carrying their handguns in here."

Anne, you remember what it was like when you were a leftie, don't you:

Lefties are much less likely than non lefties to form lasting family relationships, they kill themselves and others much more frequently, they suffer more from drug and substance abuse, they are more prone to disease, they even have a higher accident rate, they have lower family incomes, their MMPIs are much more jagged, their life expectancy is shorter, and they score lower on tests designed to show levels of personal happiness or satisfaction.

Great workers know great works speak for itself, and you're happy to pay them what ever you can.

Good workers satiate themselves that their pay equals their work, and the market keeps them employed.

Only poor workers not only have to tell you how great they are, but get upset when you don't stoke their egos. They are generally unemployed.

And then there are Union workers: It doesn't matter what kind of a job they do, you can't fire them, you're going to pay too much for them and told to like it. Or else they'll pimp your kids to hold their signs.

The president should speak up against this fascist behavior, oh, wait a minute... Hello? Andy Sterns? Never mind...

Justin(e): "I'm admitting right now that I don't have photos. I'm stating that it's a statistically unlikely."

Wrong. It is statistically impossible that there would be trash left behind at tea party events because the attendees are dudley do rights, squares, non-hipsters and, worse, people from nowheresville. They always, every single time, pick up after themselves. It is a concept you are unfamiliar with and would like to apply "statistics" to to make it disappear. Tea Party people make their beds, pay their bills, pay their taxes, go to church, and do all the other creepy middle america things which defy statistics. You can read up on it.

Typical loud rude socialists. Expect everyone else to pay for them. Expect everyone else to work while they take the day off. Expect everyone else to pick up after them.

And we already tax the rich. There are wealthy people out there who pay more in taxes in one year than these yahoos make in their lifetimes (benefits included). And you don't see them out there in the streets protesting. They are too busy WORKING...something the lazy government parasites can't comprehend. Cut off these governments!! Tax Revolt!!

I am from middle america and the picture you paint is likely from watching too much Leave it to Beaver. Plenty of people from all political affiliations make their beds, go to church and pay their taxes.

This pushy, slobbish behavior of teachers' union and teachers shows just how out of hand their power has gotten. They are supposed to work for us. The union aggressively pushes for more, more, more even when taxpayers are having to get by with less. BECAUSE OF THIS BEHAVIOR I SUPPORT WALKER'S BILL EVEN MORE>

Ever notice that it's always the folks who want to GET something that leave messes? The TAKERS could not care less about anything but GETTING what they want. They have no self-control or respect for other people's property.

And the military also sends thousands of troops to attend the funerals of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan......don't they? There’s a point in here struggling, desperately, to get out…what is it?

But if you’re writing in SYMPATHY of the teachers, please note that the “thousands” of troops at funerals, didn’t call in sick, in Afghanistan or Iraq, and turn up at the funeral. They are Stateside, on colour-guard duty….so it’s their JOB to turn up at the funeral(s).

Be proud Wisconsin! From the Drudge pic I see you have a beautiful capitol building, and the discarded signs we see are correctly spelled. During the last teacher turn-out I saw in Baltimore far too many teachers could not spell common 2-syllable words.

michaele: I would imagine the picketers would leave a bigger mess if they went to anwar to protest. Otherwise a very stupid post inasmuch as oil drilling companies have absolutely nothing to do with this topic. Even remotely.

Hmm, I wonder how michaele's car would run on oil drilled by SEIU or the teacher's union.

Fuzzy: So, we can't write about their piggy habits, their violent signs, their skipping work or their forcing thousands of families to take time off work to look after children dumped at home so teachers could protest. Got it.

Justin(e): Exactly my point. The people described, regardless of party, pick up after themselves. The tea party is mostly made up of those kinds of people. and if one of them throws something on the ground another picks it up. not so much in madison

Gahrie, perhaps more moms or dads would stay home with the kids if they felt they could afford to do so. (Some of us bite the bullet and do it anyway.) But they have to pay taxes to support all those government programs. These protesting public employees - teachers included - weren't considering those people, were they? They know the state is in serious financial trouble, or should know, and yet they think they are entitled to wages and benefits workers in the private sector do not have. Unemployment is up, full employment is down, people are in a hard place financially and teachers, etal. want MORE? Not very good citizenship in my opinion.

I got a teaching certificate - chose to raise my family instead so I only subbed. My Mom taught. Several of my sisters taught. I know all teachers aren't selfish,lying, greedy, litterers. But this lot appears to be.

You can always tell which group was protesting by the trash they left, or in the case of the Tea Party, the trash they didn't leave.Conservatives take care of themselves and clean up their own mess. Liberals expect someone else to take care of them and to clean up after them.

I've personally been part of the clean up crew at the protest, and you're not presenting an accurate description of the conditions here at all. As one of the commenters above noted, sticks are not allowed within the capital building, so people deposit them at the entrances and, in many cases, pick them up after leaving the capitol, which is why we ask people not to take signs from these piles. In the evening, all signs which are not reclaimed are discarded. For the huge number of people here (and I cannot speak to how many people were at your Tea Party rally), the capitol is surprisingly clean, and we've been having people go around in shifts throughout the day collecting trash both inside and outside the building.

Althouse "sometimes writes about law" but then commits appropriates the classic Straw Man fallacy: "look some of them made a mess, don't listen to their argument". This thread is an utter farce. Seriously, did any of you (who like to try validate your disgust with human beings other than yourself by deeming them liberals, lazy, etc.) even stop to think that 1) there were a large number of protesters 2) really no TRASH - just signs left behind (as political statement) and conveniently photographed after the elements got to them 3) not even that many signs considering the numbers that came out. I'd hate to be a student wasting my money on classes wherever Althouse pretends to teach. LOL ad infinitum at this sloppy and skewed reality Althouse has instilled in you all!

I think the reason the tea party didn't leave any litter behind was because there were about 100 of them. We're talking 10's of thousands, and the signs with wood are not allowed in the capitol. Just following the rules. There were garbage cans earlier in the week, by Thursday, the police were telling us to leave the signs in a pile.

I have attended two TEA Parties at the capital. They were both attended by thousands of people. People who piled their signs or the removed sticks in easily removed and orderly piles, unless they intended to retrieve them later. In addition, many of the other attendees, myself included, picked up litter and disposed of it properly. I have seen the same polite, orderly and respectful behaviors at TEA Parties in my own community.

This is clearly an indicator of the character of these two groups. In addition, although I remember seeing many biting, and sarcastic signs at those TEA Parties, I do not recall seeing profanity or vulgarity. Perhaps it's because we think more of ourselves than to allow ourselves to be associated with that sort of thing.

I also recall the crowd taking a speaker to task when the message became too personal regarding a legislator on the opposing side of an issue.

If any of you had been at the capitol you would know that you aren't allowed to bring sticks into the capitol. Instead you are probably sitting at home on your couch watching this from afar. Good, stay there while we bring democracy to your doorstep.

These slobs have absolutely no respect for anything. I hope they keep protesting until they freeze their tiny little balls off. Let people see what kind of shitbags are pulling in the sweet public employee Union deals. I'd call them worms, but worms are sometimes actually useful.I am player of games,I like play GW2 games,I need gw2 gold!If you have cheap Guild Wars 2 Gold,I can to buy it.